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Witness History: The scandal of Liverpool's missing Chinese sailors

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16/07/2020 GMT

The scandal of Liverpool's missing Chinese sailors

BBC World Service - Witness History, The scandal of Liverpool's missing Chinese sailors

How the British city forced out Chinese seamen who'd served during World War Two.

How the British city forced out thousands of Chinese seamen who'd served during World War Two.

During World War Two, thousands of Chinese sailors and engineers served in the British Merchant Navy, keeping supplies flowing into the port of Liverpool and risking their lives in crossings of the Atlantic. Many settled in the port city and started families with local women but, after fighting ended in 1945, the British authorities began forcing them to leave. Simon Watts talks to Yvonne Foley, whose Chinese father was pressured to return to Shanghai, never to be seen again.

PHOTO: Chinese sailors in Liverpool in 1942 (Getty Images).

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